Cooling apparatus for a converter body

ABSTRACT

COOLING PASSAGES ARE FORMED IN A FIXED MANNER ABOUT THE NOSE OPENING AND UPPER CONCIAL PORTION OF A CONVERTER AND ARE CONNECTED TO COMMON SUPPLY AND EXHAUST HEADERS MOUNTED ON THE SHELL OF THE CONVERTER. THE HEADERS ARE CONNECTED TO ROTARY PASSAGES FORMED THROUGH THE SUPPORTING TRUNNIONS OF THE CONVERTER BY FLEXIBLE CONNECTIONS WHEREBY A COOLANT MAY BE SUPPLIED TO THE COOLING PASSAGES WITHOUT INTERFERING WITH THE OPERATION OF THE CONVERTER.

United States Patent Inventors Ken Matsnmoto;

Ichlzo l-lamabe, Kobe, Japan Appl. No. 759,930 Filed Sept. 16, 1968 Patented June 28, 1971 Assignee Kawasaki Jukngyo Kabnshiki Kalsha Kobe, Japan Priority Sept. 16, 1967 Japan 42/59516 COOLING APPARATUS FOR A CONVERTER BODY 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

Int. Cl C21c 5/46 Field of Search 266/36, 39,

35, 32; 110/! 82.5, (inquired); 75/(lnquired) [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,163,695 12/1964 Bumberger 266/36 3,193,272 7/1965 Kramer et al. 266/36 3,304,075 2/1967 Puxkandl... 266/36 3,345,058 10/1967 Pere 266/36 Primary Examiner- Frank T. Yost Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn and MacPeak ABSTRACT: Cooling passages are formed in a fixed manner about the nose opening'and upper conical portion of a converter and are connected to common supply and exhaust headers mounted on the shell of the converter. The headers are connected to rotary passages formed through the supporting trunnions of the converter by flexible connections whereby a coolant may be supplied to the cooling passages without interfering with the operation of the converter.

PATENTEUJUNZBIQYI 3"588'O72 5 J| 2 HM- I FIG. 2

INVENTORS. KEN MATSUMOTO ICHIZO HAMABE ATTORNEYS.

PATENTED JUN28 I97! SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG. 3

INVENTORE'. KEN MATSUMOTO lCHIZO HAMABE FIG. 4

,M x/W ATTORNEYS.

BYZZZ COOLING APPARATUS FOR A CONVERTER BODY The present invention relates to a cooling apparatus for an oxygen top-blow converter for steel refining represented by an LD-type converter or for other converters for metallurgy similar thereto.

Generally in a converter of this kind, some parts of the converter body such as the trunnion ring or supporting ring are subjected to a substantial heat stress because ofhigh temperature exhaust gases produced in the furnace, fla re, radiant heat from spattered contents of the furnace (mainly slag and partly metal), conductive heat from the interior of the furnace and so on. Substantial heat transfer occurs in the vicinity of the nose opening and heat deformation of the trunnion ring adversely affects the operation of the converter inclining device by misalignment of the axle of the rotary journal or supporting journal (called trunnion shaft hereinafter). A portion of the slag and metal spattered from the furnace is fixed and accumulated in the vicinity of the furnace nose opening and affects adversely the operation of the converter. The lining in the furnace and the nose ring of the furnace port are rapidly harmed and frequent renewing thereof is required.

Therefore, various kinds of preventive measures such as cooling have been suggested in order to cope with the abovedescribed disadvantages in the conventional converters. Since converters are being made larger and larger and operated under more and more strict conditions, the above disadvantages become more pronounced. it has become an indispensable factor, accordingly, to employ a more effective cooling system for the furnace than the conventional ones and eliminate the above-described disadvantages as much as possible in order to make the life of the converter longer and improve the rate of operation and the productivity thereof.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a cooling device which can cool very effectively not only the portion in the vicinity of the nose opening of the converter, but also other portions of the furnace, whether it be a particular portion of the converter or the whole converter, according to necessity.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description described hereinafter taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view partly in section of an embodiment of the converter in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the flange portion of the nose opening of the converter;

FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the circulating system of the furnace body cooling water in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the reference character 1 denotes a shell of the converter, 2 denotes a heatproof furnace lining, 3 denotes flange of nose opening, 4 denotes nose ring, 5 denotes a trunnion ring, 6 and 7 denote a pair of opposite trunnion shafts formed integrally with said trunnion ring 5, 8 and 9 denote bearings, 10 and 11 denote bearing stands and 12 denotes a tilting device for tilting the converter. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, said flange 3 of the nose opening is formed into a hollow member having cooling water passages 13,13 therein.

The reference characters 14,14 denote a plurality of horizontal cooling pipes arranged in parallel at intervals on the opposite sides of the portion of the outer surface of the furnace shell of truncated cone shape below said flange 3 of the nose opening. For instance, the cooling pipes 14,14 are made by semiannular sectioned members such as pipes divided in two and fixed tightly to the outer surface of the shell 1. Therefore, the cooling water can be pumped into the pipes by means of supply pumps and the cooling water is flowed in contact with the outer surface of the furnace shell to provide effective cooling.

The reference characters 21 and 26 denote a supply header and an exhaust header disposed respectively at the inlet and outlet of the cooling water passage 13,13 and cooling pipes 14,14 adjacent the nose opening 3. The supply header 21 and exhaust 'header 26 are disposed in symmetrical relation to each other relative to the plane perpendicular to the axis of the tilting shaft of the converter comprised of the trunnion shafts 6 and 7. Since the two headers 21 and 26 are disposed on opposite sides of the converter and supported by the furnace shell at a position above the trunnion shafts 6, 7, there is no difficulty in performing certain operations such as putting molten iron, scrap and subraw material into the furnace, and removing the slag and metal attached to the nose opening. As the said cooling pipes 14,14, connecting pipes 23,23 and 24,24 described hereinafter are formed and disposed symmetrically, there is the advantage that the apparatus can be produced simply and easily.

The reference character 15 denotes a cover disposed for protecting the plurality of cooling pipes 14,14 from being damaged as well as for preventing the slag, metal and dust spattered out of the nose opening from attaching to the outer surface of the nose opening.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, the cooling water is fed from the source on the right through a feed-water pump 33 in the arrow direction into the trunnion shaft 6 independently of the tilting of the converter, by way ofa fixed feed-water pipe 16, a cock 17, a rotary joint 18 and a rotary feed-water pipe 19. After cooling the trunnion shaft 6 and the bearing 8, the cooling water is fed out of the trunnion ring 5 and fed into the supply header 21 by way ofa flexible tube 20. Since a flow rate controlling cock or an orifice 22 of proper dimension is disposed on each connecting pipe 23,23 which connects the inlet end of the cooling water passages 13,13 of the flange 3 of nose opening and the furnace shell cooling pipes 14,14 with the supply header 21, the total flow of the cooling water fed into the supply header 21, which is controlled by operation of said cock 17, is properly distributed through the connecting pipes 23,23. Thus the cooling water cools effectively the flange 3 of the nose opening, nose ring 4 and the furnace shell at the nose cone, while the cooling water passes through the cooling water passages 13,13 of the flange 3 of nose opening and the cooling pipes 14,14 with their independently controlled flow rate. The cooling water which is raised to an elevated temperature by the heat of absorption is guided into the trunnion shaft 6 by way of connecting pipes 24,24, respectively, equipped with cocks 25, the exhaust header 26 and a flexible tube 27, and then exhausted out of the apparatus through a rotary exhaust pipe 28, rotary joint 31, and a fixed exhaust pipe 32.

Additional cooling fluid may be pumped into the chamber 30 through pipe 34 and valve 35 and exhausted through pipe 36. Chamber 30 surrounds the outlet passage 29 which communicateswith the flexible tube 27 and the fixed exhaust pipe 32 to lower the temperature of the cooling fluid being exhausted through passage 29 and pipe 32.

As apparent from the above description, the present invention is represented by a cooling apparatus for a converter furnace shell which supplies and exhausts cooling water in a positive manner into and outof a circulation system through a trunnion shaft by means of a feed-water pump wherein the improvement comprises a supply header and an exhaust header held on the furnace shell at a proper position thereof so that said supply header and exhaust header are disposed on opposite sides of the converter and at a position above of the opposite trunnion shafts, a plurality of cooling pipes arranged in parallel at proper intervals with one another in substantially horizontal position on the outer surface of the furnace shell on opposite portions thereof, the inlet end of said cooling pipes being connected to said supply header, the outlet end of said cooling pipes being connected to said exhaust header, and a flow rate controlling cock or an orifice disposed in said circulation system for controlling the flow rate passes through said cooling pipes and other cooling water flow passages.

Accordingly, since by the present invention, the desired quantity of cooling water is easily fed and passed through the number of cooling pipes and other cooling water flow passages continuously independently of the tilting of the converter and every portion of the furnace of different heat load is uniformly and effectively cooled, accumulation of slag and metal on the nose opening. damage at the nose ring. transformation of the nose opening portion, misalignment of the trunnion shaft. accidents in operation of the converter tilting device and wear of furnace lining are controlled to a minimum and the life of the converter is lengthened. whereby the economy or productivity of the converter is greatly improved.

We claim:

1. A cooling apparatus for a converter furnace shell which supplies and exhausts cooling fluid positively into and out of a circulation system through a trunnion shaft by means of a pump wherein the improvement comprises; a furnace shell having a nose opening. a supply header and exhaust header mounted on the furnace shell on opposite sides of the converter adjacent said nose opening. a plurality of cooling passages arranged in spaced parallel relation to each other and said nose opening in heat transfer relation to said shell, the inlet end of said cooling passages being connected to said supply header, the outlet end of said cooling passages being connected to said exhaust header, and flow rate controlling means disposed in said circulation system for controlling the flow rate of cooling fluid through said cooling passages.

2. A cooling apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said furnace shell is provided with an annular flange about said nose openings, said flange having a cooling passage means disposed interiorly thereof.

3. A cooling apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein a plurality of pipes are secured to said shell circumferentially thereof adjacent said nose opening to provide cooling passages.

4. A cooling apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said furnace shell is provided with an annular flange about said nose openings, said flange having a cooling passage means disposed interiorly thereof.

5. A cooling apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein each of said passages extend about the shell for approximately 6. A cooling apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein fluid control means are provided between each passage and said supply header. 

